Apophenia
by Sunnykisses
Summary: After Skyfall, M sends Bond to Gotham to investigate a case that the CIA had abandoned-the disappearance of the Riddler. As the investigation begins, 007 and an unlikely ally, Batman, begin receiving ominous riddles from the Riddler. With the help of CIA agent Felix Leiter, they must work to stop the Riddler, but with so many lives at stake, will they be able to save everyone?
1. Chapter 1

Apophenia

Dark Knight/James Bond Crossover

Chapter one

* * *

**A/n:** My first crossover, excited to write and thankful for readers/reviewers! Also, the chapters will be a little shorter than in my previous stories.

**Characters:** Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman, Daniel Craig's James Bond/007, Frank Gorshin's the Riddler, Katie Holmes's Rachel Dawes, and Jack Lord's Felix Leiter, Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes's M, etc.

**Setting:** For Batman, this story takes place after the events of _Batman Begins_. For James, this story takes place after the more recent events of _Skyfall._

* * *

MI6 Headquarters

James Bond stared at the manila folder in his hands with a sense of dread. Miss Moneypenny had been none too happy to hand the file to Bond, which was his first reason to worry. Moneypenny gloated over Bond's many victorious adventures as much as he did.

"Everything all right, 007?" M asked, staring evenly at Bond. With an inaudible retort, Bond looked up and faced his boss. M's broken arm was the first thing he noticed, the sling a dark blue against the lighter blue of his shirt. This M was utterly and irrevocably different from the M Bond had known. This younger man did not correlate with the older woman that had died in Bond's arms only…how long had it been? A month, perhaps?

"Everything's fine." Bond responded, standing up.

"You can ignore the file however you like, 007, so I might as well just tell you that you're leaving the country." M stood as well.

"I usually do." Bond remarked dryly.

"You're going to New York."

Bond was silent. His hand gripped the folder tightly. "Sir, if I may," he started, "are the CIA not-"

"The CIA does not possess the leads that we have on this case." M reminded him. "Read the file, 007, and you'll understand. If we do not handle this quietly and efficiently, there will be trouble."

"Sir-"

"Good afternoon, Bond." M interrupted with a wave of his hand. "And good luck."

Bond knew that M wanted Bond out of the country. Everyone in the whole bloody headquarters wanted Bond to 'take a break'. They all assumed he was an emotional mess after M's death. They were wrong. Bond had a license to kill. He killed. The death of his boss was no different than if he had killed her himself. Bond often considered the notion that her death was in fact his fault.

With clenched teeth, Bond nodded at M and left the room, walking past Moneypenny and grabbing his hat without a word to her.

* * *

Gotham, New York

The house was more magnificent than it had ever been before the fire. Wayne Manor stood tall and proud, waiting its finishing touches. Alfred Pennyworth, his stout hands clasped behind his back, inspected the house with glowing satisfaction. It would not be long before he would move back into his home of many years. Of course, he had suggested to Master Wayne that, after the house had been burned to the ground, some changes be made. Bruce wouldn't think of it. The only changes Master Wayne would allow were those to the mysterious cave under the illustrious mansion. The renovations to the cave, however, would be entirely Master Wayne's duty. He did not want anyone but Alfred to know about what was hidden in the cave.

Alfred glanced at Bruce Wayne. His hands were stuffed deep into his trouser pockets, and he stared at the house with nostalgia.

The two men did not notice Lucius Fox. The tall man trudged up towards Wayne Manor, an envelope in his ebony hands. He stopped on the hill that Bruce and Alfred were perched on, nodding at them cordially.

"Afternoon, fellas." Lucius stared at the house as well. Alfred nodded at him in greeting.

"What do you think, Lucius?" Bruce finally spoke, gesturing towards the house with his right hand. His other remained in his pocket.

"Oh," Lucius shrugged, smiling slightly, I think it's just as magnificent as before."

Alfred raised his eyebrows at Bruce and grinned. Bruce took in Lucius's words, pondering. What would his parents think of such a place? His new home was more of a museum than a manor, encompassing his parents' every trait.

"And the envelope?" Alfred asked, pointing to the object in Lucius's hand. "What's that for, then?"

"Ah." Lucius held up the envelope. "This. This, Mr. Wayne, is for you."

"What is it?" Bruce frowned, taking the envelope in his strong hands.

"I didn't open it," Lucius assured him, "but it was in my mailbox at Wayne Enterprises, addressed to a certain _Batman_."

Bruce opened the letter without hesitation. At the same time, the loose paper inside the envelope flew out of his reach. With a soft exclamation, Alfred started after it. The wind taunted the elderly man until the paper landed a few feet in front of Bruce's shiny shoes. The text was clear.

_Who is the Batman?_


	2. Chapter 2

Apophenia

Dark Knight/James BondCrossover

Chapter two

* * *

"Mr. Bond." A young flight attendant handed 007 an envelope. James was too preoccupied with griping to himself about his sudden trip to America to notice the young woman until she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Mr. Bond?" she smiled softly.

James took the letter, sipping his vodka martini thoughtfully. "Thank you," he nodded at her. With a wink, she sashayed away from him. He watched her leave before he turned his attention to the envelope. He opened it with a dull expression and pulled out the folded up piece of paper.

_Who is the Batman? _

James threw the letter to the side immediately with flippancy. The letter meant nothing to him. He could not decipher the odd message, and he did not have time to, anyway. He sighed and finished his drink, glancing out the window. The clouds did not interest him in the slightest. He glanced around at the empty seat next to him. A file lay in place of a person—the case file he had neglected to open. He reached for it and pulled out the first piece of paper.

_Edward Nigma_, the paper was titled in M's delicate cursive. Well, the former M. The dead M. James touched the ink with two fingers, and then mentally slapped himself for being so mushy and sentimental. He continued reading.

_Edward Nigma, a.k.a. The Riddler_

_The facts:_

_A former carnival employee and cancer survivor, Mr. E. Nigma grew up with an abusive father. He is self-taught in his ways, very much autodidactic. He is known for his photographic memory, and mastery of many field of study, especially the sciences._

_He has an alleged affiliation with the notorious Ra's al Ghul._

That was a name Bond did not recognize. He memorized it.

_His intelligence, creativity, and incredible skill for making and solving puzzles and riddles helped him escape Arkham Asylum, a high security prison for the criminally insane. He suffers from, among other disorders, apophenia. _

"Q," James held his phone up to his ear. "Define 'apophenia'."

"What am I, Siri?" Q grumbled. Like the new M, there was a new Q. Like the new M, this new Q was much younger than the former Q. In fact, this new Q was almost _too_ young. Perhaps James was just getting older. James did not respond to the boy's complaint. "All right, hold on…" James could hear Q typing. "Apophenia is…the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connection in random or meaningless data."

"Hold on-"

"Coined by Klaus Conrad in 1958…uh, resembles early stages of schizophrenia-"

"Stop." James shut up the rambling Q. He picked up the envelope given to him by the flight attendant. There was no return address, naturally. Just Bond's name and the flight number. He picked up the paper again, staring at the note. _Who is the Batman_?

"Tell me about the Batman."

"I'm sorry?" Q scoffed.

"You heard me, Q. Bat. Man."

"I'm sorry, James, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Now what, Q. Who."

"Batman is a man man?"

"That's what the note says: _Who_ is the Batman?"

"The note?"

"You didn't send it?" James feigned surprise. "Someone from MI6 must have-"

"I assure you, Bond, I sent no letter. Have you contacted M?"

"It's a letter, not a bomb." James rolled his eyes. He did not need to 'contact M' with every single mishap. "Nevermind, I'll search for this Batman myself."

"Bond-" Q started, but it was too late. Bond had hung up.

* * *

Wayne Manor, Gotham, New York

Bruce Wayne sat in a bulky, elaborate chair next to the vast fireplace. He still held the letter in his hand. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to mask his worry. Someone knew about Batman, and that Lucius was involved with him. He was worried about Lucius, and about himself. Was his cover blown?

"Master Wayne," Alfred appeared at the doorway, looking cautious. "You can't fret over this forever, you know."

Bruced sighed. "You're right." He muttered. He glanced at his butler. Alfred seemed as worried as he was.

"Get some rest, Master Wanyne."

Bruce nodded, and stood up. He padded across the floor in his socks, stopping to lay a hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Goodnight, Alfred."

"Goodnight, Master Wayne."


	3. Chapter 3

Apophenia

Dark Knight/James BondCrossover

Chapter three

* * *

The Gotham Hotel, Gotham, New York

_How did you sleep? _

The text that woke Bond up was hardly worth reading. He squinted at the bright phone after he scrambled to turn it on silent, still half asleep. Moneypenny always texted him at the most inconvenient times.

He did not text her back, as per his customary, rather turning off his phone entirely. Rolling onto his firm chest, James reached towards his compact suitcase. He had packed in a hurry and only had time to the necessities. Underneath all of his clothes was a small box. With a slight intake of breath, James took out the box, opening it slowly.

Inside were pictures. Old pictures from early cases and his childhood and adolescence. James Bond was in no way a sentimental man, but he held onto a few photographs. Three stood out to him the most, and he slipped them out, placing them on his plush pillow. The covers were strewn around him, but his focus was entirely on the pictures.

The first was an old photo of Vesper Lynd. The one he had taken from her after her death. The only picture he had of her. He pushed it aside, with the bad memories, and stared at a much younger picture of himself. An engagement photo of him and Tracy. Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, otherwise known as Tracy Bond, his murdered wife. He pushed that photo aside as quickly as he had with Versper's photo. The last photo remained. It was larger than the other two, and Bond couldn't hide his smile at the memory. A picture of M at her birthday party years ago. All of the agents (Bond noted the ones that had died since the photo was taken) had gathered around M, smiling cheekily. M, well, she just looked unhappy. The whole photo box was so sentimental that James felt entirely uncanny. After a brief moment, he stuffed the box away again, emitting an unhappy groan.

After a few moments, he got up, pushing back the warm covers. Something fell off the bed. Frowning, James's eyes searched where he heard the sound. Had he forgotten a photograph?

Instead of a photograph, Bond picked up another folded piece of paper. He was not sure how it had appeared, and he unfolded it with caution.

_Who is 007?_

* * *

Wayne Enterprises

_Who is 007?_

Bruce Wayne studied the paper in his temporary Batcave at Wayne Enterprises. This was the second letter Batman had received in less than twenty-four hours. What could it mean? Where did they come from?

Setting down the paper, Bruce walked over to one of his many computers and typed in '007'.

No results.

Frowning, Bruce typed '007' again and opened the search engine to all results from around the world.

One result.

With a jolt, Bruce clicked on the find.

One result. Location: London, England.


End file.
